Leeds United star Patrick Bamford had already voiced doubts over Jesse Marsch’s tactics before the American was sacked. The Whites are now on the hunt for their next manager.
Elland Road chiefs relieved Marsch of his duties on Monday following a 1-0 defeat away to Nottingham Forest. The result left the West Yorkshire natives sat 17th in the Premier League table. They are also only outside of the relegation zone on their goal difference over Everton.
Losing at the City Ground continued a dire run of results for Leeds. The Whites are without a top-flight win since they beat AFC Bournemouth 4-3 on November 5. They also lost four of their last seven matches during a run of fixtures that returned eight goals to 12 conceded.
Bamford voiced doubts over Marsch’s tactics after Leeds lost at Nottingham Forest
Marsch started Bamford during a Premier League match for the first time since October 20 to try and turn Leeds’ form around at Nottingham Forest. The American sought to manage the striker’s workload following adductor and hip injuries that kept him from seven games.
Bamford has now started in five of his 13 Premier League appearances so far this term. He has also offered one goal and one assist through 528 minutes this season. But the 29-year-old would not add to his tallies at the City Ground to, possibly, save Marsch from the sack.
Now, Bamford’s post-game comments against Nottingham Forest hint toward doubts over Marsch’s tactics prior to him getting sacked by Leeds. The exasperated forward shared his frustrations at struggling to create many chances at the City Ground and why they did so.
“I felt fine physically, it was just a tough game,” Bamford told BBC Sport. “I was saying in the changing room then, their centre-backs just literally had me to concentrate on.
“So, we needed more runners running past me to kind of drag them out of position and create a bit more space. Whereas the whole game was literally two-v-one, which made it difficult and, unfortunately, today I couldn’t find the answers to solve that.”
Bamford had Leeds’ second-most shots at the City Ground in their 1-0 defeat
Per WhoScored, Leeds took 10 shots at Nottingham Forest to their host’s six attempts. But the Whites only directed four on-target to the Reds’ two. Luis Sinisterra also attempted the most by anyone with three. Bamford only took two shots before coming off on 68 minutes.
Neither of Bamford’s efforts forced Keylor Navas to make a save in the Nottingham Forest net. The Leeds star fired one of his shots wide of the post and saw another get blocked. He also took the joint-second most shots by a Leeds player along with right-back Luke Ayling.
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